Congratulations are in order for Curzon Ashton Football Club, who continued their extraordinary rise up the non-League ladder this May with a second promotion in as many years. Fresh from winning the Evo-Stick North the previous season, “The Nash” finished in the top five and beat Ilkeston 1-0 in the play-off final, to secure their place in the Conference North. It is the first time in their history that Curzon Ashton will be playing at this level.

As part of our drive to support local communities, P.P. Group has been privileged to be Curzon Ashton’s kit sponsor since 2010, before becoming official club sponsors in 2012. The P.P. Group began its partnership with the club after being particularly impressed with its academy work and far-reaching contribution to the wider community.

Wayne Salkeld, Curzon Ashton Youth Chairman, spoke to us about our partnership and of the club’s hopes for the new season. “It all started with Pete McCabe (Group Managing Director) having strong links with myself in business; I invited him down and he liked the community feel about the place. The benefit of having a major sponsor like P.P. Group is that it helps the club commercially. Since P. P. Group has been with us the club has gone from strength to strength.”

The P.P. Group of Companies has made a significant investment in the club through the years, helping them to finally break a duck that saw Curzon Ashton narrowly miss out on promotion to the Evo-Stik Premier six years in a row. But of utmost importance to Wayne is Investment in the academy: “This allows students who leave school to do their BTEC sports certification, their A levels and also help them do fulltime training in football. So having a sponsor like P.P. Group allows us to invest in young people and hopefully produce players for our first team or unearth the next David Beckham.”

P.P. Group has been supporting Curzon Ashton not just commercially but also as a fan; a sizeable group of our employees regularly goes to matches at Tameside Stadium to cheer on “The Nash”, enjoying the club’s famous hospitality and getting the use of season tickets. Wayne continues: “In general, if the club needs any help the P.P. Group has always been there and that’s why it’s become a strong partnership.”

Next season Curzon Ashton dream of finishing as high as they can and break more records for the club, taking advantage of the momentum gained from back to back promotions. As proud sponsors we hope this is just the beginning and we look forward to a fantastic 2015/16 season.